Vishavjit Singh, a Sikh cartoonist, spent a day in NYC dressed as Captain America in a turban. (Photo above by Fiona Aboud.) Over at
Salon, Singh posted some of what he learned from the experience. Below, a bit of that and also a video of the superhero in action.
5) This one is for brown people. Stop riding the coattails of the
victimization of black people at the hands of white people. Racism can
be both personal and/or institutional. Racism is also an
equal-opportunity employer. Racists exist in all communities. You don’t
know the shit South Asian brown people sometimes say about black people.
I do, since I have grown up in a South Asian household. Look at the
bright side and see what we have in common. We are all susceptible to
the perils of racism regardless of our backgrounds. So let that be the
starting point and revelation that brings us together to solve our
problems, rather than maligning entire groups of people. Honestly, I
knew this before donning the Captain America uniform, but it sounds more
heroic coming from my new alter-ego.
6) We are all bathing in ignorance. It is an integral part of life.
Guess what, that is not a bad thing at all. It is the unknown that has
driven humankind for eons to explore and discover our environs. Most
Americans, actually many across the globe, have no clue who Sikhs are.
And, believe me, there are many people and things I have no clue about
either. Ignorance is not the problem. It is what we do with ignorance,
our ensuing actions, that create real moments in life. Would I love to
see everyone on this planet know who Sikhs are, not make us targets of
hate, leave us alone and do a better job of targeting someone else? Hell
no. I want a world where we can embrace each other despite our
ignorance, in celebration of our differences.
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